Once upon a Golden Age
by lil'Flood
Summary: General Kozmotis Pitchiner was indeed aware of the fact that he would take a lot of responsibility, upon agreeing to take the place of the High General of the Lunanoff constellation. But what he certainly did not expect on his list of duties was taking care of two slightly, sometimes a lot, annoying teenagers. [[A Golden Age fanfic centered around Kozmotis, Jack and Nightlight]]
1. Prologue

General Kozmotis Pitchiner was indeed aware of the fact that he would take a lot of responsibility, upon agreeing to take the place of the High General of the Lunanoff constellation. He also knew about his new duties; he would be traveling a lot, train, fight and fight even more. The worst part was not being able to visit his wife and daughter that much anymore.

But what he certainly did not expect on his list of duties was taking care of two slightly, sometimes a lot, annoying teenagers.

"Kozmotis!" The General couldn't help himself, but immediately rolled his eyes upon hearing the young voice.

"Nightlight, it is "General Pitchiner". I told you that you are supposed to show some respect." He turned around to face the boy, standing on the doorstep to his office.

Nightlight, the spectral boy, stood there beaming happily, in both meanings of the word. Kozmotis knew no one that could keep up with the smile, that nearly never disappeared from the boy's face. Besides that he simply beamed, quite literally. The General really had no idea why, but the boy constantly glowed. All in all the boy was quite the mystery. Never did he encounter a being like the white haired teen on his journeys trough the different constellations of their galaxy. Sadly, said boy was just as clueless as the General himself, concerning his origins.

"But Kozmotis is your name, isn't it? Why can't I call you like that then?", he shook his head a little, making his white curls of hair bounce up and down.

"I know you explained it once, but isn't it confusing if everyone calls you differently?"

"Sometimes I ask myself if you ever listen to whatever I try to explain to you . . .", the General muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking! But say, why did you came here?"

"Oh right!", his smile seemed to grow even wider if that was possible, "We finished our chores! Can me and Jack go to town?"

"First of all it's Jack and I'"

"That's what I said."  
>"No, you said 'me and Jack', saying your name first is considered impolite.", that boy seriously never listened to his lectures and speech training. His daughter probably had better manners, even though Nightlight was by far older than her and maybe even older than the General himself. Immortal . . . what the General would give to figure out what exactly the boy was . . .<p>

"I'll try to remember . . . but this stuff is so difficult.", Nightlight smiled sheepishly.

"So, why exactly do you boys want to go to town?"  
>"Well, we just want to go there and do some fun stuff."<p>

Kozmotis struggled to resist rolling is eyes again, knowing exactly what the boy meant by that: playing around with the children who always ran around in the streets of their capital.

His two apprentices were still children themselves after all. Jack being only 15 and Nightlight, even though he didn't seem to age, still appeared to be around the same age as Jack. Sometimes Kozmotis asked himself if they weren't too young to train with him yet.

"You may, but be back before dawn." If the boys are gone . . .

"Thanks Kozmotis. Jack! We can go!" . . . then there will finally be . . .

"But remember to be punctual! You two can't miss dinner again." . . . some silence.

In a matter of seconds the General was alone in his office again. Sweet, sweet silence. Now he only had to finish the paperwork and then he would finally have some time to relax with the boys being out.

Meanwhile the spectral boy was hurrying up the stairs to his and Jack's room. "Jack! Are you coming? Kozmotis said yes!"

Jack, actually Jackson, but he hated being called by his full name, looked up from his current spot on the bed.

"Awesome! Just give me a sec to put something else on.", the younger boy was still wearing the blue apprentice uniform. In one swift motion he pulled the jacket over his head and grabbed for a rather worn out shirt. Jack had been living with them for nearly a year now. Kozmotis and Nightlight had found him alone on one of their journeys to a rather far away planet at the edge of their constellation. He had been without any memories and nowhere to go. So for the second time in his life, Kozmotis Pitchiner decided to take in a child he met on one of his journeys, without a family and a home. The first one being Nightlight, whom the General had met 9 years prior.

The two boys, although not sharing the same blood, were often assumed to be brothers. Next to the constant happiness the two seemed to share, the same could be said about the looks. The similar round face, the lanky body and on top of it the mob of white hair. Although the latter hadn't always been the case. When the General and the spectral boy had found Jack, his hair was warm brown, but said color slowly faded over the following year. Instead of the warm chestnut color it slowly turned into icy white. No one new why, but the General suspected Jack's powers to be the cause of it. Ice powers that were incredibly difficult for Jack to control.

"Ready! We can go.", said Jack grabbing his crooked, wooden staff; Kozmotis had gotten it for him, to help him channel his powers.

Nightlight nodded and both of them leaped off the ground and out of the window.

"Finally.", with a content smile on his lips, Kozmotis put the papers in order one last time, before putting them in an envelope.

"Now . . . Where did I leave that book-", he wasn't able to finish the thought. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw two boys falling by his window. His heart nearly stopped, book forgotten as he sprinted towards the window, stuck his head out to look down where the boys would have hit the ground. Instead of what he had expected, the ground, to his relief, was bare. His head snapped up when he heard the all too familiar laughs of his apprentices.

"What did I tell you about jumping out of the window! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

These boys and their magic, for a split second Kozmotis forgot the boys were actually capable of flying. It was easy to forget when he was always teaching them to fight without their magic.

"Sorry! It's just more fun than taking the boring way.", Jack simply grinned up at him, referring to the much safer stairs, in Kozmotis' eyes at least. The boys had once tried to convince him to fly with them, but he had firmly refused.

"Less fun, but a whole lot better, safer and more civilized."

"Nothing is better than having fun!", and with that they were off.

Kozmotis simply sighed, "I'm pretty sure that one day, they'll be the end of me."


	2. Chapter 1

Even though both boys enjoyed flying they were now back on the ground, walking down the street to the north gate. Kozmotis kept scolding them a lot, about how they always brought so much attention to them.

Their capital contained inhabitants of different stars from all over their constellation and it was basically the center of magic studies of Lunanoff. Still he made it quite clear that he preferred not to catch the attention of half the city, same counted for his two apprentices. As the High General of the Lunanoff constellation you did not only have allies and deep down Kozmotis was basically worried for the boy's safety, but he would never admit that directly to them.

Thus Jack and Nightlight strolled down the streets on their way to the center. They came along different beings and stores of all sorts. Some Moonmice were talking to a captain of a shooting star, next to a shop containing all kinds of books, reaching from ancient Lunanoff history to the languages of different galaxies. As always the town was crowded, to prevent loosing each other, Nightlight took Jack's hand and started leading them trough the crowd of people. It became a habit, after they've been separated during one of Jacks first trips to town. One second he was there and the next he was simply gone. To phrase it like Kozmotis would, the spectral boy had nearly gotten a heart attack. He was supposed to take care of the younger one! How could he possible loose him, Jack didn't knew the city and was probably not even able to go home by himself!

After finally finding the boy, who was stuck before the giant windows of a toy store, Nightlight certainly felt more than relieved. It was his job to take care of him. Maybe not really a job, since Nightlight simply enjoyed spending time with the other teen. He more or less made it his duty to protect him, just like he wanted to keep Kozmotis out of harms way (Which was certainly difficult, since he constantly went away to some stupid battle, to come back being all worn out and bruised). All in all Nightlight loved watching over people and maybe this was the reason why Kozmotis came up with the idea of training the spectral boy, so one day he'd become the bodyguard of the prince of the Lunanoff constellation. One day Nightlight certainly could do it! He just had to train a lot, but not all of time, that would be too boring. That's why he and Jack were currently heading towards the town's center: To have some fun.

The marketplace was huge. In the south was a gold tinted cathedral, it's towers seamed to reach the clouds high above the capital. The ground was plastered with different colored stones. In the middle the royal symbol of the Lunanoff constellation covered the square: A sun, with 8 beams around it, the circle at the center of the sun contained another circle, symbolizing the moon.

A lot of merchants were selling their products and in between the crowds children were running around, playing all kinds of games. Soon some of them noticed the approaching white haired teens and they began whispering excitedly.

"You are back!", a little girl ran towards Jack and Nightlight.

"Of course we are back! Did you think we weren't going to keep our promise!", Jack grinned.

Nightlight swiftly picked her up and rested her on the top of his shoulders. "So what are we going to play today?"

Around the two teens a group of nearly 20 kids had gathered, their age reaching from 6 to 11. Nightlights glow seemed to flicker brightly showing his happiness.

"I want to play catch!", a boy raised his hand.

"We already played that yesterday!", another child replied.

"Carrotpulling!"  
>"Huh what's that? I never heard of that game-"<p>

"We could do rope jumping."

"Well we need a rope for that, don't we? Has anyone got a rope?"

"I could get one from home!"

"What about hopscotch?"

"Mhh, that might be possible. What do you think Jack?" Nightlight turned to his companion.

"Hopscotch . . ." The other only starred blankly at the other side of the square.

"Jack?"  
>Said boy flinched, "What?! What is it?<p>

"Is everything alright?" Nightlight's glow seemed to dim a bit.

"Y-Yes. I'm fine, just got lost in thoughts a bit.", Jack smiled a little, "It's fine really! Come on let's play hopscotch!"

Their little crowd started to cheer, though Nightlight still eyed Jack a bit skeptical.

With a swift motion Jack took his staff and tapped lightly on the ground. Around it a fine layer of frost started to appear. The children all giggled with glee, as the lines for the game started to appear.

"Okay who wants to start?", twenty tiny hands shot in the air.

They started to play and over the time even more children came to join them, leaving their parents behind to do their shopping. Most of the grownups smiled at the sight of the two teens entertaining the group of children, but others simply glared at the mass of children blocking their way. Upon seeing the looks of them Nightlight couldn't help but wonder what happened to those 'tall ones'. Children were wonderful! How could they simply look past the pure joy and wonder of them?

"A giant rabbit!", the exclamation made Nightlight forget his anger.

All the children stopped to look at what one of their peers was pointing at.

"Woah. That really is a big rabbit.", was all Jack could manage. Around 100 meters from their playground two rabbit ears reached over the mass of the capital's citizens.

"I can only see the ears! Can't we go any closer?", one of the children asked.

"What if he is dangerous . . . ?"

"I've never seen a rabbit like this- What do they eat to get that big?"

"You don't think they-"

"I-I'm scared, I want my mummy-", Jack immediately rushed to the little girl who said that.

"Shh, there is nothing to be scared about. It's just a big fluffy bunny!"

"B-But-", the girl started hiccuping, whispers went trough the crowd and more and more children seemed to suddenly fear the rabbit.

Jack looked up to Nightlight, who was holding a pair of twin boys in his arms, rocking them up and down to prevent them from starting to cry as well. The older looked a bit unsure, but then beamed up.

"Do you think that the two apprentices of the High General of the Lunanoff constellation would not protect you, while a dangerous creature might be approaching?", all the children fixed their eyes on him and shook their little heads.

"That's what I thought!", the boy glowed warmly, "Fear not, for I will now go and take a look what kind of creature has invaded the heart of our constellation!"

"You will leave us alone?"

"Well of course not, Sir Jack will be taking care of you while I'm gone.", Jack rolled his eyes, but still smiled at the mention of his role in Nightlight's plan.

The glowing teen put the boys he was still holding back on the ground and saluted, "I assure you I will be back in no time!". The children started to giggle again.

"Far well then, Sir Nightlight."

And with that the spectral boy went off, darting through the crowds, chasing after the giant rabbit. His little speech took some time and for a short moment he thought he lost his target, but then he saw them again: Two brown bunny ears poking out of the sea of citizens.

Smiling Nightlight glided trough the masses, for once thankful for his lanky body (Kozmotis always teased him. The muscles just wouldn't come no matter how hard he trained!).

Now only 2 meters separated him and the rabbit. To Nightlight's surprise he could now see that the rabbit was wearing clothes, a long green coat with a red collar and he had a pair of tiny glasses placed on the top of his nose. He was far from scary and looked rather funny.

His ears twitched a little and suddenly the bunny turned around. Nightlight's eyes went wide, as the creature locked his gaze on the boy. For a second both of them were frozen and simply stared at each other. The bunny's lips moved and it looked like as if he meant to question Nightlight something, but the crowd was too loud and Nightlight could only register the movements. The bunny took a step forward and Nightlight tensed immediately. You would not suspect it, since the boy was always so open around children and loved to tease the General, but when it came to talking with grownup people, the tall ones, he was incredibly shy and maybe a bit frightened.

So when the bunny came closer he did the only thing he could think of: Run.

Nightlight spun around and went into the crowd again. Oh stars, he only wanted to take a closer look, to assure the children that the bunny was not dangerous. He never meant to actually be noticed, or even talk to him!

"Oi! Wait!", was that the rabbit?

Nightlight tried to pick up speed, but to his dismay the crowd only seemed to thicken. Maybe he could just fly off. He has never heard of flying bunnies, so it sure wouldn't foll-

Something large and fuzzy made contact with the collar of his shirt. Nightlight let out a yelp, when he was lifted of the ground.

"I was talking to you! Don't you run of like that!", the spectral boy reached behind himself and tried to get the brown paw to let go of his shirt, but the grip remained strong as iron.

"Are you even listening?", Nightlight let out another sound of distress as he was lifted up even higher and turned around, so that he was now facing the bunny.

Green encountered green.

The bunny's eyes looked incredibly human and to Nightlight's surprise they were wide open in shock, as if it had just seen a ghost.

"You . . . Moon child."

"What-", was the only thing Nightlight could manage before the paw on his shirt suddenly let go. He fell down for a second, until his instincts kicked in and he let his magic catch him before he hit the ground. Now hovering in the air he looked up at the bunny again, who had taken a step back.

He blinked a few times, "O-Oh my. I'm sorry! I didn't meant to-"

The bunny reached out his paw and the spectral boy took it, forcing himself up.

"No problem.", mumbled Nightlight. Gods he was feeling so embarrassed and he didn't even do anything wrong!

"I was just surprised. I didn't exactly expect seeing . . . someone like you here.", to his great relief the bunny didn't look that comfortable either.

"Like me?"

"Yes! I did know that you can find beings from all over the universe on Lunanoff, but I thought you and your people were rather fond of the quieter constellations, like Mondfacies in the north."

Did the bunny knew what he was? Where there more of him?

"Me and my-", but once again the poor boy was cut off.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm E. Aster Bunnymund.", said the bunny, no Aster and held out his paw. Upon seeing the gesture Nightlight tensed. What was he supposed to do again?! The General had explained it so many times, take the hand (well in this case paw) and then the boy forgot what to do next.

So Nightlight basically took it, hoping that that was indeed the right thing to do.

"Pleasure to meet you as well . . . Aster.", Aster beamed up, upon hearing the words. It was just as if he felt honored to be in the boy's presence. Even though Nightlight couldn't put a finger on what exactly could be so exciting about him. As Aster didn't seem to stop looking at the boy with glee, Nightlight felt the urge to disappear into thin air again. He really should head back, or Jack would get worried-

"Nightlight!", and there he was. Jack came rushing forward, staff hanging loosely in his hand.

"Nightlight what did take you so long? We've been waiting ages for you to come back! The kids all got worried and woah . . . giant bunny." Aster's ears twitched and the whole excitement seemed to leave his face the second Jack finally arrived before them.

"If I were you I would be showing a bit more respect! I'm not a bunny. I'm a Pooka! One of the most intelligent species in the whole universe, don't you dare call me bunny!", the Pooka lowered himself during his little speech and his face was now only mere centimeters away from Jack's own. Still Jack being Jack didn't feel intimidated at all and only grinned, glancing towards Nightlight.

"Geez, Nightlight. He isn't scary at all. How could the kids think of him as a scary monster?"

"'Scary monster', what are you talking about? I'm no scary monster you tiny human!"

"For such an 'intelligent' creature you sure have a short temper."

"Jack maybe you should-"

"Stop insulting me this instant."

"And why should I do that?"

"Jack I don't think-"

"Because if you don't you are going to regret this."

Nightlight started to flicker again. This was certainly not good! He once heard about Pookas and they were known to be great warriors. He couldn't let this escalate, they were basically at each others throats already!

"Both of you stop this instant!", Aster's ears perked up and Jack let out a little yelp upon hearing the outburst of Nightlight.

"No more fighting!"

"But he started-"

"No buts!", huffed Nightlight. He certainly picked up some things from Kozmotis. At that the younger one only pouted, giving the older one an annoyed look.

"Aster that is Jack and Jack that is Aster!", you were supposed to introduce your acquaintances to each other, weren't you?

"It's Bunnymund for you."

"Huh-", did Nightlight do something wrong, again? All those different rules about names are certainly difficult to remember.

"You can call me Aster.", he pointed at Nightlight, "But you will call me Bunnymund!", he pointed at Jack.

"Sure thing 'Bunny'."

"Jack!"

"Listen, you little ankle biter! It's not Aster, nor Bunny, but Bunnymund for you! I'm sure you get that into that little human brain of yours!", with his paw he tapped lightly on Jack's forehead.

"Don't touch me!", Jack shot back.

"Jack we should go back, remember the kids?"

Nightlight took Jack by the boy's upper arm and began dragging him back to the children.

"Pleasure to meet you, Aster. But we've got to go now."

"Yeah, it was fantastic! I really hope seeing you again at one point!"

"Jack!"  
>"You little-"<p>

Jack only laughed and took the lead, now being the one making Nightlight move after him.

"Hey! Wait-", Aster leaped after the boys, but soon lost them between the masses of people. The boys soon reached 'their' kids again. They've patiently waited for the older ones to return and now they erupted into happy chatter.

"You came back!"

"Did you found him?"

"How was it?"

"Hey, if you want to hear the story then quite down!", grinned Jack, "We indeed found the bunny, who's name even was Bunny!"

"Well it was Bunnymund.", interrupted Nightlight.

Some of the children started to giggle again and you could here some whispers, like 'Who names a bunny bunny?'.

"Aaaanyways, he was indeed not that friendly."

"Jack, he was only mean to you, since you've been mean to him."

"No, he was basically mean!"

"Jack-"

"So since Sir Nightlight didn't came back I went to his rescue and . . ."

And so Jack told the children what had happened, with Nightlight interrupting from time to time. The children listened with wide eyes and after the boys finished the story they decided to play again.

The sun slowly crept closer to the horizon and started hiding behind the roofs of the capital's homes. Above them the sky turned midnight blue and Nightlights glow got brighter and brighter. Soon the children started to yawn, complaining about being tired. Parents came, children bid farewell and soon Jack and Nightlight were the only ones left on the marketplace. They went back home, where they were having dinner. The General patiently listened to the stories of his two apprentices. Upon the clock striking 10, Kozmotis sent Jack to bed. Nightlight stayed with the General, until also the latter went to bed. Just like always he wished Nightlight a good night and Nightlight assured him that he would wait for them. So the General traveled to the land of dreams and Nightlight went upstairs checking if Jack was alright. He smiled happily, upon seeing the younger one laying save and sound under his fluffy sheets. The spectral boy opened the window and quietly stepped out, making himself comfortable on the roof. There he watched the giant silver circle hanging in the sky. His glow had just the same color as the moonbeams.

Nightlight did not need to sleep. He never did it before and he doubt he ever will. Having nothing to do he simply spent the nights watching the sky and the stars, remembering his home moon and his friends the moonbeams. Imagining meeting someone like him. Don't get him wrong, he loved living with Jack and Kozmotis. They were his family, but once he was sitting there on the roof, each night, with no one around, he simply longed for company.

Nightlight was a moon child, preferring night over day. They never slept, nor did they feel the urge to eat. They were made out of mist and pure moonlight. Their birth could be compared to the birth of a star, making the darkest places of space shine, like the most brilliant stars. There was no species coming close to moon children.

Or rather the moon child.

Nightlight was the moon child, since he was the only one left.

And he didn't even know.


	3. Chapter 2

Kozmotis Pitchiner was tired. It wasn't like he did go to bed too late, but his sleep had been restless. He dreamed of the weirdest things, but only remembering little pieces and fragments when he woke up.

Worst of all he was on duty at the moment. The Tsar was expecting a visitor from a far away constellation, who wanted to discuss some unnatural sightings.

Both of his boys were already on the training grounds, practicing combat, or at least that was what they were supposed to do. He would check on them later on, after he was finished with the Tsar.

The General let out a yawn, before straightening his back and opening the huge double doors which led to the throne room.

"Ah! Good morning Kozmotis.", Tsar Lunanoff was already there, waiting for the arrival of his General.

"Good morning, your Majesty.", Kozmotis bowed slightly.

"Our guest isn't here yet, but I'm sure he will arrive any second. How is your daughter?"

"Oh, she is doing quite well. Actually, I planned to visit home next week."

The Tsar smiled at that, he had known Kozmotis for over 20 years now. They had met in university. The Pitchiner family was one of the most influential families in the Lunanoff society, thus Kozmotis was granted a good education and settled quite easily in the military.

"That's good to hear. And the boys? I've already spotted them this morning."

"They are also doing well. Jack has improved quite a lot. It's really impressive. What about your own heir?"

The Tsar chuckled, "What can I say, he certainly is entertaining the whole palace at night."

"Maybe I should send Nightlight over, the boy is awake the whole night anyways."

"That would be lovely. I must say sometimes I'm rather jealous that you don't have to live in the palace."  
>"If I were you, I would enjoy these things. My daughter is 8 already! I already miss the time when she was even younger."<p>

"If you say so, still rig-"

Before the Tsar could finish the giant doors opened up.

"Tsar Lunanoff? Your guest, E. Aster Bunnymund has arrived.", called out a guard and took a step back.

Kozmotis' head spun around upon hearing the name, 'It could not be-'.

But there he stood, the bunny Jack has been talking about yesterday. The Pooka one of his apprentices had had a fight with. The respectable representative of a befriended constellation, whom his apprentice might have insulted quite a bit.

All of his manners forgotten, Kozmotis could only stare. How many times did he tell Jack to try controlling his temper better? Why did the boys have to be so bad with manners?! What did he do wrong-

"Kozmotis?"

"Huh, wha-", he looked up into the faces of the Tsar and the Pooka.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yes! I'm sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts."

The Tsar looked a bit concerned, normally the General would never be distracted, especially during an important meeting like this.

"It's fine, no need to worry."

"If you say so . . . Anyway, Kozmotis I want you to meet E. Aster Bunnymund, Bunnymund, Lord Pitchiner, High General of the Lunanoff constellation."

"Pleasure to meet you, Bunnymund.", Kozmotis offered a hand.

"Pleasure is all mine, General.", the Pooka took his hand and they shared a firm handshake.

"Good, then let's get started. We should go in my study for that. Kozmotis?"

The General took the cue and led the two others out of the room, through a side-door. They went down a long corridor and finally reached the study. Upon arriving Kozmotis held the door open, allowing the other two to step in. The Tsar went to his desk and sat down, gesturing to Bunnymund to take the other chair, opposite of him. Kozmotis closed the door and took his place, standing besides Tsar Lunanoff.

"Now Bunnymund, what brings you here?"

"There have been mysterious sightings all over our constellation. The people call them 'shadows'. No one has truly seen them, only blurred lines.

Still our people are getting worried. Something is wrong and we fear if we aren't careful those 'shadows' might spread not only over our constellation, but the whole galaxy."

"Did they ever attack civilians?"

"We haven't heard of specific cases, but people are going missing. We don't know what to do, Tsar Lunanoff! We sent our best warriors, but they could not find anything.

We suspect that the 'shadows' might be . . . "

The Pooka went silent and his expression suddenly looked haunted.

"Fearlings."

The Tsar took in a sharp breath, looking at Bunnymund in shock. Meanwhile the General raised a brow, he had never heard this name before.

"What are Fearlings?"

Bunnymund looked up and a shiver ran down Kozmotis back upon seeing into the wide green eyes of the Pooka.

"They are an old race of monsters and feed on fear. They are as old as the cosmos itself, being created together with the shadows."

"But they are extinct!", the Tsar stood up. "No one has ever seen one for centuries! It could be something else it-"

"Oh, you never know if something is truly gone. I met a moon child yesterday and a lot of people assumed that they had disappeared as well."

Tsar Lunanoff was now walking up and down at the end of his desk.

"But it just can't be . . . Are you aware of the consequences, Bunnymund? If . . . IF the Fearlings truly are back, then we are lost . . .", his pace slowed down until he finally stopped, "How do you plan on defeating Fearlings, Bunnymund?"

The General was more than confused by this, the Tsar talked about their empire being lost. How could he believe that his whole constellation was in danger, only because some weird old creatures came back and not even in their own constellation, but in the Pooka's which lay hours of traveling away.

"Your Majesty, I can't quite follow. How can you assume some mere creatur-"

"You've never seen a Fearling, General. Believe me, I'm already hundreds of years old and I still remember coming face to face to one, when I was a mere babe. You will never EVER want to meet a Fearling!", the Pooka was now standing as well and was leaning over the table, coming closer to the General. His eyes held fury and anger, but most of all, which scared the General the most, was fear.

"Okay . . . I understand, but can't we just send out troops and defeat them now?"

"You can't simply kill a Fearling, they are like shadows, General."

The General slowly grew impatient, he was the High General of the Lunanoff constellation, for star's sake! He would do everything to protect his constellation and if there was no way to defeat these creatures, then he would find one.

"Where have they been sighted?"

"On Katotteneta, but why do you-"

"I'm going."

"General, you can't simply-"

"You aren't even sure if they are those Fearling creatures. I will travel there and take a look."

"Kozmotis I will not allow you to simply get yourself killed!"

"Your Majesty, I'm the High General, I'm here to protect our constellation! And if there is a threat I will go and eliminate it!"

The Tsar only sighed, he knew that he couldn't change Kozmotis' opinion. His General was determined to protect their constellation and nothing would stop him from doing so.

"You could come with me.", Kozmotis turned around to face the Pooka.

"Bunnymund-"

"No your majesty, if he wants to go then you should let them, after all we have all heard of the famous High General."

"Kozmotis, you should seriously think this through!"

"I already have. It is my duty to protect our constellation and this is what I am going to do."

"Then it's settled.", the Pooka patted the General on the back, "You are going to come with me tomorrow."

Elsewhere the General's boys were training, on a field behind one of the palaces storage buildings.

"Come on Jack, you can do better than that!", Nightlight easily blocked another blow of the other's sword.

"You know how much I hate sword fighting.", huffed Jack, trying and failing to hit the other boy once again.

"If you stopped complaining, you could easily use that energy to at least try landing a hit.", Nightlight clearly dominated their little training session. Normally Kozmotis would train with them, but since their teacher was having a meeting it was now Nightlight's duty to train the younger one. He had been with the General for 9 years now and he didn't even know what a sword was in the beginning of his training, but he quickly became quite decent at fighting with one.

Jack did not like sword fights at all. He preferred his magic, swords were stupid in his opinion. The fighting did take much more energy and it just wouldn't work as easily for him. He had troubles with his magic as well, but it was still much better than those stupid-not-allowed-to-use-powers-sword-fights.

Jack let out a groan, aiming for his training partner again. He took a step to the left and tried hitting his opponent again. Nightlight, seemingly having foreseen his move, blocked the attack easily. The younger one then tried the other side, but he had no success either. He continued trying to use different kinds of patterns to confuse the other one, but Nightlight only smiled blocking hit after hit.

"This isn't even a real fight! Stars, you only keep blocking me. Do you know how frustrating this is Nightlight?"

"So you want this to be a real fight?", Nightlight smirked, something he certainly did not do often. Jack immediately regretted saying those words out loud.

"What, no I-"

The spectral boy took a step forward, his sword soaring trough the air. Jack tried to block, but in the attempt to escape the other boy's hit he bent backwards, allowing the other to easily push him over. Jack let out a yelp as his back made contact with the ground and another yelp escaped his mouth as a weight was put on him. Upon opening his blue eyes, he was met by a laughing Nightlight, who had made himself comfortable on top of him.

"Get off me!", but this only caused Nightlight to laugh even more.

"Nightlight you are so stupid! Now get off!"

"You wanted to have a real fight."

"Did not." He laughed again and suddenly Jack saw his chance. The other was distracted and he used that as an advantage. The younger boy quickly grabbed the other's arm and pulled him towards ground, Nightlight nearly weighed nothing and it was now easy for Jack to roll over and change positions. Now he was on top of the other.

"Ha, you didn't expect that! Never underestimate the powerful warrior, known as Jack Fro-", Nightlight did the same as Jack just did to him and soon both boys wrestled on the ground trying to pin the other down as long as possible. Nightlight might have been more experienced, but Jack being actually heavier had a little advantage. Their shouts were soon only laughter, some of the palace guards chuckled at the sight of the two boys. They only stopped upon hearing the General's voice in the distance.

"Nightlight?! Jack?!"

Both boys stopped and looked at each other, wasn't Kozmotis supposed to be on duty?

"What are you- You were supposed to train, while I'm gone!", he was now only mere meters away, arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

Nightlight, who was now once again sitting on Jack, only smiled sheepishly, "We did train! Until Jack got bored of it."

"Hey, I wasn't bored, your training sucked-"

"Jack, language!"

"Sorry, but it really was stupid!"

"It wasn't stupid! You were just not motivated enough and I basically did the same things Kozmotis used to do, when we trained together!"

Pitch rolled his eyes and crouched down next to the boys.

"Stop fighting! Jack, you will probably not enjoy this, but Nightlight will have to do your training for some time."

"What?", both said in union, sharing confused looks.

"Why can't you do it?", asked Nightlight, letting Jack go from under him.

"I will be gone for some time.", sighed Kozmotis, "I'm on a mission and will be back in one to two weeks."

At the word 'mission', both of the boys eyes lit up.

"Can we come with you! You never went on a mission with me! You only ever took Nightlight."

"Yes! The last time I went on a mission with you was when we met Jack! Please, Kozmotis!"

Kozmotis knew that this was difficult, the boys were simply too curious. But there was no way, that he would take them with him on this mission. The Tsar was worried for his safety, worried for him, the High General! He was one of the most experienced warriors of Lunanoff. Even though he still doubted that they would find these mysterious Fearlings, he still couldn't risk taking the boys with him. It would be too dangerous.

"None of you will be coming with me. It's too dangerous and both of you need more training."

"But-"

"No buts! There will be no arguing this time.", he stood up again pointing at the two boys, "You two will be staying here! I will not take the risk of you two getting injured."

Both teens simply looked back with wide eyes. A little smile slipped on Kozmotis' lips, they usually never remained silent like this. His little lecture clearly came trough.

"Understood? Good, then let's go back. I'm sure you 'trained' enough today."

Kozmotis started walking back home, the boys following him quietly. They were surely surprised that Kozmotis was so worried about them. He usually never acted like this. But Kozmotis had been so rarely on a mission these days, the last 'real' one was when Kozmotis and Nightlight went to a small planet at the edge of the constellation. It was where they met Jack and that was nearly one year ago. After that there wasn't any war whatsoever going on, so the General basically stayed in the capital, training Nightlight and Jack, doing paperwork, attending meetings and visiting his wife and daughter from time to time.

Now that there was a mission for the High General was slightly worrysome. The Lunanoff constellation was known for his peace keeping. If Kozmotis was going and not some mere soldiers it sure was of importance and a threat to their constellation.

Nightlight had been training under the General for 9 years now. He quickly became skilled with various weapons and could probably be considered as one of the best soldiers of their constellation. Still Kozmotis seemed to fuss over him when it came to actual combat. He had been on missions before, but they were never labeled as dangerous and if something ever happened Kozmotis seemed to hold him back, telling him to stay out of harms way. The spectral boy wasn't a child anymore! (Even though his title and physical appearance indicated the opposite.) And he got sick of always being labeled as such. If Kozmotis was going on the mission it couldn't be that bad, he was the best soldier of Lunanoff after all. If something happened he would be able to deal with it easily! Why couldn't he simply take them with him?

His glow started flickering out of anger. Kozmotis fortunately didn't notice, walking in front the boys, but Jack did and the latter lightly poked Nightlight with his crooked staff.

The other jumped a little, lost in his thoughts; he had completely forgotten about his companion. When Nightlight looked over to where the other boy was walking he immediately noticed the look in the other's eyes. Blue Mischief grinned over to mist-green.

He couldn't be-

Jack tilted his head a little towards the General, rolling his eyes in a mocking motion.

Oh well, he did.

They surely would get into trouble for this, but as if this was a surprise. They were going to follow Kozmotis, no matter what. They didn't have the opportunity to go on an adventure that often, being limited to only travel all over the capital and on occasions to Kozmotis' home planet. Kozmotis would be traveling to a far away planet, maybe even outside of the constellation! This would certainly be an adventure and when they came back they could tell all of the children about it.

"Kozmoti-"

"Jack, we are in public, it's General."

"Whatever-", if you watched closely you could see the General's fingers twitching dangerously, "Anyways when are you going to go on your oh so dangerous trip."

"We planned on leaving tomorrow at noon, if that is okay with you. I already arranged a maid from the palace to make sure that you always have a warm meal and one of the other Generals will be watching over your training."

"Kozmotis! We aren't babies! We can certainly survive a week on our own."

"I'm pretty sure you would, but I'm not so sure about the house."

"W-What is that supposed to mean!?"

The next day the General said goodbye to the boys and went to the Tsar, bidding him farewell. After that he and Bunnymund went to the latter's ship. They took off and the capital of Lunanoff soon became only a yellow dot in the endless void of space.

"General, could you be so kind and get me the maps out of the storage? I know the way home, but we are going to pass a meteor field and I just want to make sure our route is safe."

"Of course, I'll be back in a moment."

The General left the cockpit, leaving Bunnymund alone. Aster hummed a bit, a small song from his childhood. If Lunanoff was helping them, then they might manage to defeat the Fearlings! It was certainly a good sign that the General was coming with him, besides his people would get a bit of their confidence back, if he came back home with such an important person.

The trip to Lunanoff was surely a successful one, now they only needed to check on those 'shadows' and everything would finally be normal aga-

Bunnymund was interrupted by a scream and the cursing of the General.

"YOU TWO ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"


	4. Chapter 3

Sneaking on the ship was surprisingly easy. Kozmotis was still busy talking with the Tsar and the ships usually weren't guarded. Nightlight and Jack only had to find the right ship, but that was also fairly easy, since there was only one foreign ship. A gigantic gold-tinted egg.

The General had told them that he would travel with a representative of the other constellation, they would be traveling to Katotteneta.

Once they found the ship, Nightlight quickly opened the back door to the storage cabinet. They went in and hid between some abandoned boxes. The whole room was pitch black, except for the soft blue glow coming from Nightlight. They waited and after roughly 30 minutes they heard footsteps as Kozmotis and the representative entered the ship. The boys tried to remain as quite as possible, holding their breaths. Soon the engine started to buzz and the ship made it's way up into space. Hours passed and Jack started getting tired, allowing himself to lean onto Nightlight and fall asleep. The other only smiled down onto his younger companion. Now they would only have to wait, until they arrived at their destination.

Suddenly footsteps came closer. Nightlight perked up, they couldn't come for the storage! He tried to dim his glow, but a small aura still remained, tainting the nearby boxes. Should he wake Jack up? But he was silent at the moment and if he woke him he might get nervous.

The door opened and yellow light reached them. From his spot Nightlight could see the shadow of the incoming figure, Kozmotis! Unintentionally his glow started to flicker, out of nervousness. He didn't know how far away they still were from the planet. If they were still closer to Lunanoff then he might basically send them back. Nightlight couldn't allow that to happen! They were so close to their adventure.

Kozmotis meanwhile went over to some shelfs, filled with maps. He looked through some of them, taking some out and going back to the door. Nightlight let out a sigh of relief, until he heard Jack shuffle.

"Mhh . . . Nightlight . . . ?", the other tensed again. Kozmotis wold hear them if Jack got any louder.

Nightlight started humming, hoping that Jack would remain asleep, but to no avail.

"Are . . . we there yet . . . ? Nightlight?", Jack slowly opened his eyes and Kozmotis stopped in his tracks. Nightlight swiftly clamped his hand over the others mouth. Jack obviously was still confused from his sleep and started to fight against the grip.

"Is someone there?", Kozmotis called out, coming dangerously close to the two.

"Jack, be quiet-", Nightlight wanted to say, but the other caught him by surprise, as Jack forcefully slammed the two of them into the nearby boxes. Nightlight let go, as a dozen boxes fell down on them. Jack cried out in surprise and Kozmotis took a step back, as boxes tumbled down and stopped just before his feet.

A few seconds later Jack's head snapped out from below the boxes, struggling for air. Mere seconds later the room was erupted in a flickering blue glow, as Nightlight managed to escape as well.

Kozmotis meanwhile had drawn his sword, but upon seeing the familiar white haired teens he let it fall onto the ground.

A few really colorful curses left his mouth. We won't get much into it, because even Jack and Nightlight were a bit flabbergasted hearing said words coming out of the High General.

As he finished with the small outburst, he stopped in his tracks, looking down to the boys.

"YOU TWO ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"

Kozmotis didn't like to shout, even though he was the High General and had to keep everything under control, especially on the battlefield. Still he simply didn't really like the concept of it. It was loud, exhausting and basically not the polite way of settling things. But right now he was angry, really angry. He had told the boys to stay home. Didn't they get the concept of danger? He cared for them, thus he of course forbid them to come with him. This mission was dangerous! They never listened to him and he had enough of it.

"I told you to stay at home! I told you to not follow me! And what are you doing?! You are simply sneaking onto the ship. Do you know how mad I am! Oh stars, once we are back you will regret ever even thinking about following me! You two will-"

"General, is everything alright?", he was interrupted by Bunnymund, who had followed the other after hearing the shouts. He stopped in his tracks, upon seeing the two boys in his storage.

"W-What are you doing here?!", Kozmotis laughed drily at that exclamation.

"Yeah, I would like to know that too."

Nightlight's light dimmed further and further, regretting his decision on following Kozmotis already. Jack on the other hand seemed to find the fact that they were on Bunnymund's ship much more important.

"Wait a second- This is Bunny's ship?!"

"Jack, can you be serious for once?!"

"G-General you know the boys?"

Kozmotis groaned in frustration, did anyone ever listen to him?

"Yes! They are my apprentices and I told them, that no matter what they won't be coming with me on this mission. I'm really sorry Bunnymund, but it looks like we got to go back to Lunanoff immediately."

"What?! No, you can't send us back! Please, Kozmotis!", cried out Nightlight.

"You know what Nightlight? I thought I could expect more from you! Of course Jack would have tried to sneak on, but you? You are supposed to be a role model and here you are disobeying all my instructions!", Nightlight's face grew hot as the General lectured him.

"Oh really?! And I expected a little more trust from you as well! I'm not some small baby! I have trained 9 years! 9 years! I always did what you told me to! I always gave my best! And now I'm far better than some of your stupid soldiers in your stupid army! And still you never allow me to go on a mission! You never allow me to take part in a real fight! I'm sick of that! Why don't you put a little more trust in me?!"

Nightlight normally never argued, but this was simply enough. He knew that he sometimes did the wrong thing. He knew that he had trouble memorizing all of the human customs Kozmotis tried to teach him everyday. But he tried, still he never got a reward for it.

"Maybe I would trust you more if you stopped always doing stuff like this.", the General gestured around them, indicating them following him onto his mission.

"Besides you always go to town to play with the children-"

"What's wrong about having fun with them?", interrupted Nightlight.

"Don't you know what it means to be a soldier? Nightlight, I can't send you out, because you are merely a child! You might have a good technique, but you could never hurt someone!", the General stopped there. Nightlight only looked at the General with sad eyes.

"I'm not a child.", it was barely a whisper. He looked to the ground, avoiding the gaze of the General.

"Yes, you are! Because a responsible person, a grown up, would certainly not act like you."

"Well you know what?", snapped Nightlight, "Tall ones are stupid! You never listen and you never have fun."

He stormed out of the room, leaving Kozmotis and the other two alone in the storage.

"Only a child would run away! Come back this inst-"

"That's enough General, the boy clearly got quiet upset."

Kozmotis spun around to face the Pooka, "Since when are you got with children, Bunnymund? He clearly needed a lecture!"

"I have never seen Nightlight so upset like that.", stated Jack.

"I will have a word with you as well, my friend! It clearly wasn't only Nightlight's idea to follow us.", the General clearly spoke to Jack now, the latter fumbling with his fingers over the wood of his staff, "I won't tolerate any more shenanigans from you two!"

They looked at each other for some seconds, until Jack gaze fell to the ground.

"I'm gonna look for Nightlight.", mumbled the boy.

"You may.", Jack didn't look up as he left the room as well.

Aster stepped forward, putting one of his paws on Kozomtis' shoulder.

"You know that it isn't the boy's fault that he is acting like that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The moon child, Nightlight? They all have this childish nature. It sure can be a bit annoying, but they still happen to be good warriors. It surely is no surprise that you took him as an apprentice."

Kozmotis only raised a brow.

"What's a moon child?"

At that Aster was caught by surprise, "Y-You don't know what a moon child is? But I thought you knew since . . . How can you not know when you have Nightlight as an apprentice?"

"Wait . . . Is that what he is? Do you call him a moon child?", the General grew excited. He always wanted to know what exactly Nightlight was.

"Did the boy never tell you? General! I was aware that there are nearly no moon children left, but you of all people should know about them! How did you even meet the boy? They surely wouldn't just let a young one go with some General who doesn't even know about them!"

Bunnymund started looking a bit frustrated. All of this certainly made no sense.

"He was alone! There was no . . . other moon child."

Aster only eyed the other sceptically.

"They don't live alone, they can't stand it. That's why they are always in groups."

"But I'm telling you! He was alone! All alone, only with these moonbeams . . . and he didn't even know how long he spent alone. He didn't even- He doesn't know . . .", now the General understood. How could he forget! He had asked the boy so many times, tried to find it in so many books, but he never found out. Then there was Bunnymund, a creature from another constellation, being already multiple centuries old! He knew it, because he was already so old. In comparison Kozmotis would be considered a baby.

"Nightlight doesn't know what he is."

Bunnymund looked at Kozmotis in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Nightlight doesn't know that his . . . well species is. He doesn't know where he is from, or if he has a family.", the General stopped there and Bunnymund eyed him a bit like the General was crazy.

"That makes absolutely no sense General! Moon children are always together in groups! They would never abandon someone! They are smart, one of the oldest species of our universe! Just as old as the fearlings!", Aster gripped the fur on his head in frustration. This didn't make sense and he hated conflicts like that, concepts he couldn't grasp.

"What if they didn't leave him.", the General started, "You said it is really rare too encounter one. What if-"

Bunnymund couldn't help himself, but annoyance slipped into his voice, "What if what, General?"

"What if Nightlight is the last one?"

Bunnymund's eyes widened. That was . . . a logical explanation, but he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. "That . . . could be a possibility."

He didn't like the thought, only imagining that he might be the last one sent a shiver down his spine. The Pooka hoped that their thought was wrong, that there would be another, a better explanation! Still at the moment there was none and a dread settled in his stomach.

"We- I . . . should talk with him once we are back home on Lunanoff.", the General looked like he felt the same as the Pooka.

"Yeah, that would be the best."

The two remained silent. The only sound came from the engine that was still buzzing in the distance.

"I should go back to the cockpit.", stated Bunnymund, taking the map from Kozmotis.

He turned around, but stopped again after a few steps. "Do you still want to take the boys back? As long as they stay on the ship they would be safe."

Kozmotis perked up at the suggestion. The boys! He had completely forgotten that they were still on the ship!

"Yeah, I will tell them."

Meanwhile Jack had found Nightlight in the egg-shaped ship. The older one was sitting nearby the cockpit on a bench, which was integrated into the wall. There on the red-padded cushions he sat, staring outside a giant window, on the opposite side of the hallway. Jack sad down besides him, gazing out as well. Before them a sea of a million stars swept by.

"I shouldn't have been so mean to Kozmotis.", Jack perked up at that and looked over to Nightlight.

"He has done so much for me. I just . . . I always feel like he sees ma as a child and not a . . .", he grew quiet again.

"Kozmotis is a grown up, they all act like that. Always so serious.", stated Jack.

"Then I don't want to be a tall one either.", whispered Nightlight, "No child, but also no tall one. It's weird isn't it?"

They remained silent once again, just looking at the space before them. At one point Jack broke the silence.

"Do you miss your home?", it just came to his mind. They never talked about how they lived before Kozmotis took them in.

"We've only been gone for some hours."

"I'm talking about the place you come from."

"Oh.", Nightlight had to think a bit about that, "To be honest, I don't remember much of it." Sadness slipped on his face.

"Just that there was a moon . . . A really big one! It was really bright and there were a lot of moonbeams. They loved to play . . . "

"How can you play with moonbeams?"

Nightlight jumped up at that, "You have never played with moonbeams?"

"Uh . . . no.", and again Nightlight leaped forward, holding Jack by the shoulders.

"I have never taken you to play with the moonbeams before? Oh stars! Once we have the next full moon I will take you with me! They even manage to reach Lunanoff!"

Nightlight smiled, being clearly happy about the new subject. Jack also started to smile, feeling relived that the other was feeling well again. Normally it was Nightlight who had to cheer up Jack and Jack certainly felt uncomfortable seeing the other one in a state like that.

After that Nightlight rambled on about how wonderful moonbeams were, that they loved to play and lived around all kinds of moons. He told Jack about how he used to travel without a ship. That he used to be alone in space, but that he still enjoyed it and at on point he had met the General. Back then Kozmotis was traveling on one of the biggest galleons of their constellation. There he had annoyed the General until the later finally agreed to let him stay with him.

Unnoticed by the boys said General had been listening to their conversation. Kozmotis had arrived some minutes ago to tell them that they were allowed to stay, as long as they stayed on the ship, even when Bunnymund and Kozmotis would be away on their mission. Their mission was urgent and they couldn't afford to go back to Lunanoff simply to bring the boys back. He would wait some time until he would bring up the subject of Nightlights ancestry.

He listened for a while with a fond smile on his lips. When he thought the time was right he went in, acting like he hadn't been standing there for the past few minutes. To his dismay Nightlight still didn't look at him, his eyes seemingly being glued to the floor. Still after announcing that they were allowed to stay his eyes peaked up from behind his white bangs. Jack let out a cry of happiness, earning a smile from Kozmotis.

After some hours, Bunnymund nearly killing Jack, hundreds of sighs coming from Kozmotis, half an hour where Nightlight couldn't stop laughing (at one point the others grew concerned), the storage room being cleaned up again and Bunnymund nearly killing Jack again they finally arrived on Katotteneta.

There it was nearly night and Aster decided to wait until morning. As all of the others went to bed Nightlight remained once again awake. He went out and placed himself on top of the ship. He did not like this planet, it was mostly stone and not a lot of plants could be seen on the surface. There wasn't a moon either. The sky was simply pitch black, except for some little yellow dots, representing stars in the distance. It was a weird feeling being on a moonless planet and Nightlight wished that they could go home soon.

Meanwhile the others were sleeping in one of the rooms of the ship. Jack did not have a restful sleep. He rolled from side to side, displeasure covering his face. Behind them the shadows seemed to move, moving across the room, seemingly looking for something. If you listened closely you could hear their whispers. Deep rasping sounds, calling out into the darkness.

**"Where is it? I can feel it."**

"**Where is the light?"**

"**They are coming for us."**

"**Find it! Find the moon child!"**

"**Find the light!"**

"**Kill the moon child!"**


End file.
